Following the successful launch of Club Marriott 2.0 back in May last year, Marriott International has announced the launch of a brand new integrated Club Marriott 3.0 which brings together three of Asia Pacific's most prominent dining loyalty programs – Club Marriott, Eat Drink & More, as well as Star Privilege. This brand new Club Marriott membership will allow members to benefit from a greater selection of properties (now that some of the Starwood properties are participating as well) and discounts when dining out at one of 250 participating hotels across the region.

Photo Credit: Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel

The Club Marriott membership in Singapore offers a flat 30% discount off food and beverage for up to 20 guests in all participating restaurants in the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel. Additionally, it also offers up to 20% discount off food & beverage for up to 10 guests at participating hotels and resorts in Asia Pacific. Participating hotels in Singapore include:

There are currently two membership tiers - lite and full - which are offered at S$248 and S$488 per annum respectively. More information on the respective membership tiers will be provided once I get the details.

If you are planning to travel to the US next year, it may be a good idea to lock-in attractive USD/SGD rates well before your trip - especially when the DBS Multi-Currency Account (MCA) is offering a promotional interest rate of 2.50% p.a. from September to December 2018 on eligible fresh funds deposited in the account. The MCA comes with a range of different benefits, so if you are expecting to transact in USD in the year ahead, you will probably want to take advantage of this promotion to lock-in the attractive interest rates and save up for your upcoming expenses in the meantime.

I recently received an email from a reader with the following InterContinental Ambassador benefits - do note that this is not official and it was basically a survey that was sent out to a member in the IHG Rewards Club Advisors team. The proposed membership in this survey is priced at USD 250 (instead of USD 200 at the moment) and it offers a number of potentially interesting and useful benefits on top of the usual ones that current InterContinental Ambassador members are getting.

The Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is a collection of small and independent luxury hotels where guests can enjoy authentic travel experiences - The Scarlet Singapore and Naumi are both SLH properties in Singapore! Hyatt Hotels Corporation and SLH has announced plans to bring World of Hyatt members opportunities to enjoy loyalty benefits in more places and this collaborative effort is expected to launch at the end of the year.

John Paul is one of the world's leading concierge service and OCBC used to utilise them for OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders. From 01 September 2018, OCBC will be replacing them with TEN Concierge (whom I have personally not heard of) - I do believe that there will be no change to the way cardholders utilise this service but I guess we will find out in a month or so. TEN Concierge claims to have direct access to a live allocation of music, sport and theatre tickets, which is not available to the public but only time will tell.

Slated to open in November 2018, the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit will soon become the fourth Hyatt branded property in the City of Angels. Alongside the famous Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, Park Hyatt Bangkok and the Hyatt Place Bangkok Sukhumvit, the fourth property is set to become one of the city's most exciting new properties to open this year.

The American Express Platinum Card has long been synonymous with superior social standing and status. Today, American Express has introduced a new suite of benefits for Platinum Card Members at no additional cost - these benefits range from elite status in loyalty programs, travel credits, exclusive access to private membership clubs and spaces as well as enhanced travel benefits just to name a few.

The latest Hyatt Regency property in China has just opened in Jiangsu province (East China) and the Hyatt Regency Zhenjiang occupies levels 59 to 76 of the city's highest skyscraper. The 318-room Hyatt Regency hotel is set to provide travelers and locals alike with a fresh perspective of the city by providing an energising place to connect with the very best of Zhenjiang.

Following the premature ending of 10X OCBC$ for mobile payments made using the OCBC Titanium Rewards card, OCBC has just announced that they will be removing the option for OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders to purchase 500,000 VOYAGE miles for S$10,000. The last day to take advantage of this offer is 31 August 2018 and following that, OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders will only be able to renew their VOYAGE Card by paying either S$488 or S$3,210 for 15,000 and 150,000 VOYAGE Miles respectively.

The Pullman Bali Legian Beach has just announced the addition of 12 newly-built Garden Suites which are an added extension to the 364-room property. These suites are located on the ground floor of the hotel and they are great for families who wish to stay in Legian.

The highly-anticipated Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur is currently offering an Opening Celebration Offer for bookings made between 01 July 2018 and 30 September 2018 from MYR 828 (SGD 280) Nett. The newly-opened 5-star property is approximately 45 minutes drive from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) and it is located in the city's Golden Triangle.